[Satnews] For a thorough immersion in the smallsat market segment, consider attending the upcoming, two-day and extremely important SmallSat Symposium. This highly informative symposium will be conducted on Tuesday, February 23, and Wednesday, February 24, 2016. The event will occur at the Hogan Lovells Conference Center in Silicon Valley, California, and is organized and sponsored by Satnews Publishers.

Pertinent topics in day one that will be addressed are:

No Longer Small—Differentiating Miniature Satellites, Growth of the sector

Day Two offers many topics, such as Structuring Financial Alternatives...

Growth can be obtained either organically or through targeted acquisitions—which best suits the small satellite company. Which funding vehicle is most likely to invest in small satellite companies to supply risk and/or working capital? Which financial innovation will accelerate growth? Choosing a financing option from various alternatives such as SBA loans, banks, online lenders, crowd funding, venture capitalists, angel investors, exchange-traded funds, hedge funds to private lending institutions etc. Core investor interests—how to structure your offering and present your leadership and partner options.

With close to 400 Earth observation satellites planned for launch by 2025, the coming decade of growth in observation satellites is enormous. Companies such as Spaceflight Industries, BlackSky Global, UrtheCast, PlanetiQ, BlackBridge, OmniEarth, Planet Labs, Satellogic, Skybox Imaging, DigitalGlobe, Airbus and others are all planning networks. From agriculture and mining to traffic observation, mapping and weather, small satellites crack open a new opportunity to observe our planet in considerable detail. They also offer a range of solutions to meet the immediate needs of emergency responders, and help civil protection as well as aid in disaster recovery in harsh environments and remote locations. As programs become more developed, commercialization of Earth observation data is more likely to bring a return on investment as the majority of revenue (expected manufacturing revenue over $36 billion during the next decade) in the commercial data market relates to high resolution.

Growth can be obtained either organically or through targeted acquisitions that best suits the small satellite company. Which funding vehicle is most likely to invest in small satellite companies to supply risk and/or working capital? Which financial inovation will accelerate growth? Choosing a financing option from various alternatives such as SBA loans, banks, online lenders, crowd funding, venture capitalists, angel investors, exchange-traded funds, hedge funds to private lending institutions etc. Core investor interests—how to structure your offering and present your leadership and partner options.

Defense and Government: Policy and Regulation—What are the Considerations?

Defense, Government and NGO sectors require connectivity for secure, mission-critical communications, providing more choice and flexibility through integrated solutions. Advanced military architecture could focus on scalability and flexibility. Importantly, modularity and interoperability in components and buses by sharing a common standard instead of procuring yet another satellite could lead to significant savings. If US government is your customer how do you build strong constituencies in congress as well as at the executive levels besides the end customer. We will explore the multiple challenges in the policy and regulatory arenas including terrestrial competition, licensing issues, frequency allocations, market-access barriers, interference concerns and dealing with orbital debris.

What are the risks, costs and advantages to choosing a hosted payload over a shared launch? What kind of platform is best suited to a specific type of satellite. Listen to experts in the hosted payload and small satellite industries highlight key points in these critical decision making areas.

Structuring Small Satellite Ops - Efficiency, Efficacy and RiskGrowing diversity in payload requirements, customer types and strong competition continue to have an impact on the small satellite market. Executives from organizations with their first satellites either in orbit or in construction will present their objectives and strategies. The focus will be on different development models, prototypes and early operations including the overall positioning, level of vertical integration and cooperation with other industry stakeholders.

Once known primarily as the darling of the military, COTS providers are finding a new role in space hardware as small satellites have emerged. How are manufacturers working with these COTS providers and how are COTS providers adapting to new demands.